The San Diego Padres have already hit six home runs off the Cleveland Guardians two games into their series.
The Cleveland Guardians lack power. It's clear when watching the team play and the stats back it up too. Their 43 home runs are the fewest in MLB and they have a team SLG of .364 which is third worst in baseball too.
But why is slugging and pop important? Well, the San Diego Padres are showing the Guardians why it's so necessary.
Through the first two games of the series, the Guardians have tallied 14 hits and the Padres have had 17. The hits are relatively close on paper meaning so are the runs scored.
Right?
Not so much.
Cleveland has scored just three total runs in the series compared to San Diego's 13. That's 10 more runs than Cleveland has scored even though the Padres only have three more hits. The main difference here has been the long ball.
The Padres hit two home runs in the series opener courtesy of Gary Sanchez and Fernando Tatis Jr. which accounted for four of their runs. They picked up right where they left off in game two with Tatis leading off the game with a solo shot.
Manny Machado, Juan Soto, and Nelson Cruz all joined in on the action with a home run of their own.
Cleveland's quest for power hasn't quite panned out the way they envisioned. Mike Zunino has had his struggles at the plate and Josh Bell has been underwhelming up until the last week.
This series is showing the Guardians why being able to put a run on the board with just a swing of the bat is so important, especially against good teams.
The Guardians need to promote this power from within or look to trade for a player with some pop.
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Photo Credit © Ray Acevedo-USA TODAY Sports
